Human brain organoids implanted into mouse cortex respond to visual stimuli for first time
Dec 2022, phys.org
Mouse blood vessels grew into the organoid providing necessary nutrients and oxygen to the implant.
They are compatible, they latched on and are growing into the brain and working like normal brains.
I'll just copy the first paragraph exactly as-is, because this is what science fiction looks like as it's happening in real time:
A team of engineers and neuroscientists has demonstrated for the first time that human brain organoids implanted in mice have established functional connectivity to the animals' cortex and responded to external sensory stimuli. The implanted organoids reacted to visual stimuli in the same way as surrounding tissues, an observation that researchers were able to make in real time over several months thanks to an innovative experimental setup that combines transparent graphene microelectrode arrays and two-photon imaging.
via University of California San Diego: Madison N. Wilson et al, Multimodal monitoring of human cortical organoids implanted in mice reveal functional connection with visual cortex, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35536-3
Image credit: Jared Michael
Lab-grown retinal eye cells make successful connections, open door for clinical trials to treat blindness
Jan 2023, phys.org
Organoid photoreceptor cells can reach out toward new neighbors with characteristic biological cords called axons, and plug into other retinal cell types in order to communicate.
via University of Wisconsin-Madison: Allison L. Ludwig et al, Re-formation of synaptic connectivity in dissociated human stem cell-derived retinal organoid cultures, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213418120
